While people across 1990’s Iraq struggle to survive, 9-year old Lamia has been selected to prepare a cake to celebrate the President’s birthday. In a landscape of fear and scarcity, where basic ingredients are nearly impossible to find, Lamia sets out on a determined journey throughout the big city in search of eggs, flour, and sugar. Accompanied by her grandmother, her loyal friend Saeed, and her pet rooster Hindi, she navigates vendors and police officers along the way use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients and prepare the mandatory cake in THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE.

Writer-director Hasan Hadi’s THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE won the Audience Award and the Caméra d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival,  and was selected as the Iraqi entry for Best International Feature Film for the 2026 Oscars.

“A tenderly crafted, often devastating portrait of childhood in rural Iraq, ‘The President’s Cake’ vividly brings to life its morally complex world through richly drawn characters and intimate storytelling.” (Rotten Tomatoes)

“Shot entirely in the director’s home country with a largely amateur, untrained cast, the film blends a striking sense of street-level realism, political commentary and poetic nostalgia for the naive innocence of youth.” (Globe and Mail)

“The bonds of the children, Bibi, the postman, and a very few others in their circle endow “The President’s Cake” with a grandly humanistic warmth that’s all the stronger for the mighty pressure under which it’s forged.” (The New Yorker)

“While “The President’s Cake” mostly plays like a genial fairy tale, with superbly balanced humor and drama, Hadi is still unsparing about the ills of patriarchal society. It is a compassionate and winsome debut, packed with an unassuming punch.” (Variety)

“From the pastoral beauty of its opening sequence to the gut punch of its last, Hadi’s film is an exceptional screen debut, as perceptive as it is kinetic and, with one eye on the bombers overhead, brimming with life.” (The Hollywood Reporter)

Saturday, March 21
Doors 2:30 pm | Movie 3:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE

Monday, March 23
Doors 5:30 pm | Movie 6:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE

THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE “Mamlaket al-qasab” (Hasan Hadi, 2026 / 105 mins / PG / Arabic w. EST)

*All ages. Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK for any single film only. Please redeem at the door.
*We recommend purchasing your tickets in advance at www.riotheatretickets.ca. If a screening or live event is not sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for in-person purchase at the Rio Theatre’s box office prior to showtime (subject to availability).
*Our box office is typically open 30 minutes before showtime. All seating is General Admission; please arrive 20-30 minutes prior to showtime to ensure great seats, and time for treats at concession.

*All Rio Theatre tickets are final sale. No refunds or exchanges.